states. we all know that it is now a huge part of our economy. accounting for 18% of gdp. that is $2.2 trillion for those we don't know the exact size of the 2011 gdp. and i'm sure the policy student somewhere play a drinking game based upon how many times the word unsustainable is used. but the spending figures released for the third year in a row, aggregate spending grew by 3.9%. the smallest increment in decades. to paraphrase ross perot's running mate in the debate many years ago, why are we here? at least one response to the question is we don't know if the health care cost have been slain or is just hibernating. how much comes from the sluggish economic recovery where people are postponing care over which they have any kind of discussion at all what about expensive treatments and tests them for the most expensive health care programs is the fact that 10,802 joining and joining me in the over 65 set everyday. despite relatively encouraging news -- [inaudible] we are talking today about t